several form checks

Looking for some good opinions here.  I've been doing GST for almost 12 weeks.  Each video here is the third micro cycle, 5th set of 15, and I'm able to go straight between strength and mobility with no rest.  I do have a history of really poor shoulder mobility, but no injury.  I also have had a bad back since I was 17 years old.  Disc degeneration, spondylolysis at L4, disc bulge at L4/5, lumbarized sacrum (I have a L5/6 disc, meaning I have excessive anterior pelvic tilt which has caused my thoracic spine to tighten up).

http://youtu.be/4_RsSxGYMoE

- HBH and cat/cow

- Form ok?  If not mastery, what should I change to get there? For mobility, enough ROM to be considered mastery?

http://youtu.be/P79XRwdrmtA

- incline chest press and german arm swing

- Not sure about my angle for press, too easy?

- ROM for arm swing?

http://youtu.be/Mm2XnTbSE18

- tuck ups/stiff leg windmill

- knee close enough to chest?

- windmills: I never realized until the video that the weight doesn't stay over my shoulder, will correct that.

I took a video of ABH too, but good god I suck at it.  Didn't realize until I saw another video today that my feet needed to touch.  When I try doing that, I can barely get my legs 3" off the floor.  Long way to go.  Scapular shrugs are great, hip swivels will be a long work in progress.  Hinged ring rows I can do with a ton of effort and a picture of coach Sommers on my phone staring at me.  I think I need another microcycle before considering mastery.

Bent Hollow Body Hold:

-hands needs to be closer to side (but don't touch torso)

-neck needs a tiny bit more flexed, it helps to look at legs

-scapula needs to be off the floor

Catcow:

-hands a bit too far back, bring it so that hands directly underneath shoulder

-feet/knees together

Incline Pushups:

-I can't tell from the video, but it seems like you're bouncing off the bar.  The chest shouldn't touch the bar, especially since your chest won't be touching the bar in Pushups

-Need a hollow body position for the exercise, especially posterior pelvic tilt

Tuck-Ups:

-Feet/Knees together when legs on floor

-I noticed there's a big arch in your back when arms overhead, you need to be in a hollow body position

Windmill:

-the feet on the side of the non-working arm needs to be pointing sideways

-when descending, you need to be shifting your hips to the side of the working arm

-your hands needs to go a lot lower towards the floor before reaching backwards (though don't touch floor)

alan tseng said:

Bent Hollow Body Hold:

-hands needs to be closer to side (but don't touch torso)

-neck needs a tiny bit more flexed, it helps to look at legs

-scapula needs to be off the floor

 

Catcow:

-hands a bit too far back, bring it so that hands directly underneath shoulder

-feet/knees together

 

Incline Pushups:

-I can't tell from the video, but it seems like you're bouncing off the bar.  could be, though not on purpose. The chest shouldn't touch the bar, especially since your chest won't be touching the bar in Pushups

-Need a hollow body position for the exercise, especially posterior pelvic tilt

 

Tuck-Ups:

-Feet/Knees together when legs on floor

-I noticed there's a big arch in your back when arms overhead, you need to be in a hollow body position 

That's a function of terribly shoulder mobility.  Are you saying it's more important to get my hands to the floor at the expense of lumbar arch, or more important to keep hollow position even if my shoulders are 6" off the floor?

 

Windmill:

-the feet on the side of the non-working arm needs to be pointing sideways

-when descending, you need to be shifting your hips to the side of the working arm

crap, if I do those two things, I can barely get into the position without feeling like the non-working arm hamstring is going to explode.

-your hands needs to go a lot lower towards the floor before reaching backwards (though don't touch floor)

long way to go I guess.  Lots of work to do on this mobility.

Both.  When I say hollow body position, what it means is that you need to be in a posterior pelvic tilt.  the hips should be positioned as how your hips are positioned in FL/PE1, flattening the lumbar spine through posterior pelvic tilt, since right now your hips are in anterior pelvic tilt (same with your incline pushups).  If your shoulders are several inches off the floor when in a PPT, how's your lat's?  Are they very tight?  If they are, the iM's in RC will help.  By the way, do you have H1?  H1 is extremely helpful in shoulder mobility.

As for the Windmills, if it's too hard, back off on weight.  This is a mobility exercise, rather than strengthening exercise so it's okay to go light especially if it helps you get deeper

Will work on the hollow body position.  Lat's are certainly tight and one of my issues.  Scapular muscles are tight too.  I think my predisposition due to a lumbarized sacrum and tight thoracic spine is probably the biggest problem.  Shoulder dislocates are helping, but my shoulders are completely junk relative to forum members here so it's going to be a long work in progress.

I do have H1, am doing it 1x/week and still just on the first exercise/mobility.  It's difficult enough to do the wrist stretches without wrist pain right now.

I actually chose 20lb because it was helping to get more depth, but I'll try 10lb next week and focus on the corrections you suggested.  Thanks.

I used to have a tight knot on my rhomboids, however surprisingly RC/PE1>iM alone got rid of that knot.  If you lack spinal mobility, the adjustments I mentioned for CatCow, which may seem very small but in my opinion makes a big difference in how much I can move my spine.  The more work you do for your thoracic spine, the better your Arch Body Holds will be

alan tseng said:

Incline Pushups:

-I can't tell from the video, but it seems like you're bouncing off the bar. The chest shouldn't touch the bar, especially since your chest won't be touching the bar in Pushups

This is incorrect, the chest absolutely does need to touch the bar on Incline Push-Ups (HBP/PE1) and the chest does need to touch the floor during regular push-ups (HBP/PE2).

I would lower the bar on these as well as try to work on maintaining a PPT/hollow body position throughout.

for tuck-ups, if my knees are together at the top, there is no way I can come even close to my chest.  I have very deep hip sockets and my anatomy just isn't made for that.  Not sure if that means I shouldn't progress at all.

For your windmills: To keep the weight over your shoulder, through out the range of motion, consciously look up at the weight in your hand.

Damon Amato said:

for tuck-ups, if my knees are together at the top, there is no way I can come even close to my chest. I have very deep hip sockets and my anatomy just isn't made for that. Not sure if that means I shouldn't progress at all.

I'm not sure the knees have to actually touch at the top. I know that Coach has acknowledged that some people's knees don't touch when their legs are straight and feet are together due to variations in anatomy and proportion. So, since we are eventually working up to a Manna and doing that without the knees actually touching is permissible, I think it's reasonable to assume that tuck-ups also do not require the knees to actually touch. That doesn't mean that the legs should be flared to the sides though, they should still be together.

The form cues don't actually say that the knees must be touching either just that the thighs be pulled all the way to the chest (and it's fairly clear that the legs are together in the demo video). I haven't heard Coach or Cory weigh in on this though so don't take my word as official.

what I'm saying is exactly that though.  Deep hip sockets are what cause my knees to flare when they go towards my chest. 

If that were true and you could never get your thighs to your stomach/chest without them being straddled, then you could never achieve a correct pike or Manna though.

How much are you talking when you say they flare? Can you touch your feet together with your legs straight? Then you should be able to perform tuck-ups with whatever width your knees/upper legs are apart. If you can't yet it's more likely that you just lack the required strength and mobility than it is that your physical structure is limiting you.

I'd like to hear Coach, Cory, or someone like Mark Collins weigh in on your situation as I am not an expert on the subject.

More checks!

ttp://youtu.be/pJCBFbKEZco

Is the "cat"  in cat/cow enough ROM?

http://youtu.be/mA-ARFRn6v4

Cat and Cow range of motion is fine. Just keep doing the best you can, if your body still has room to improve it will.

two more.

http://youtu.be/QlRnzREfjTw

I know I need to straighten my legs out here, just curious how much higher my arms and legs need to be specifically for mastery, because my arms won't go any higher even if they forced them at the moment.

http://youtu.be/wYArKQCLgWM

enough compression at the top here?  I realize my left arm on stiff leg windmills is going into left field for some reason and I'll fix that.